Immigrants Deported After Decades in America

Added: 2026-06-02

[00:00:00]Imagine spending your entire life in America, building a family, paying taxes, raising children, only to be told one day, "You don't belong here."

[00:00:14]For some immigrants, deportation doesn't happen after weeks or months.

[00:00:19]It happens after decades.

[00:00:22]Today, we are looking at people called America home for 20, 30, or 40 years before everything changed overnight.

[00:00:34]And some of these stories are harder to believe than you think.

[00:00:38]But before we get into the first case, here is a summary of the cases we are looking into.

[00:00:45]>> So, how many years altogether did you live in the US?

[00:00:48]>> As almost 19 year.

[00:00:50]>> 19 year, yes. I have a wife, kids. I have a wife and daughter as a 4 year and one boy as a 4 months old. I left over there.

[00:01:00]>> People think like, "Oh, why you get locked up? Why you get deported?" For driving without a license and what to be honest, I was on my way to work and I was going fast and then the police clocked me and then I got pulled over and then it started asking me about immigration and all that. I don't have a social or anything like that and so he took me into custody, right?

[00:01:18]>> Today is my last day here in my house. Tomorrow I leave for Bali indefinitely and it just feels like married for 28 years to my husband who is being deported right now by ICE.

[00:01:34]28 years. He's been here over 30 years and I want everybody to know nobody gives a [ __ ] if you have family, if you have kids, they don't give a [ __ ] and they're taking your your husband or your father away. They are taking my husband away.

[00:01:47]>> This right here happened in Laredo, Texas. A mom is hugging her son and saying goodbye after ICE has detained her after four decades of living in this country. This is so sad.

[00:02:02]>> My country, I'm here almost 30 years.

[00:02:05]I'm working always. I pay the taxes. I pay my bills in the time. I take care of my kids. I never do what I marry just do not hurt them, you know?

[00:02:15]I'm living for them. I give my heart for my kids. I cannot I don't know I'm going to how I'm going to how I'm going to stand without my kids.

[00:02:23]>> Before we get into the first case, there's something important that most people don't realize about deportation in America.

[00:02:31]You can spend decades building a life here and still never truly be safe. So, this next story starts like millions of others. Someone chasing stability, opportunity, and a future.

[00:02:45]But, decades later one mistake, one policy change, or one immigration check, and everything changes. Let's check it out.

[00:02:55]>> People think like, "Oh, why you get locked up? Why you get deported?" For driving without a license and what to be honest, I was on my way to work and I was going fast and then the police clocked me and then I got pulled over and then started asking me about immigration and all that. I don't have a social or anything like that and so he took me into custody, right? And once he took me into custody, I did like 5 days and I was happy cuz they were I was about to get out. And then before I got out, he's like, "Hold up.

[00:03:23]Uh go into this office." And I go in that office and this ICE and ICE is immigration.

[00:03:28]>> So, they released you into ICE custody.

[00:03:31]>> Into ICE custody.

[00:03:34]But, if I was, you know, American or if I had a social, I would have been, you know, regular. You know, you just 5 days and I would have been out. But, no.

[00:03:41]They put me in ICE custody and then uh they just started asking me where I came in and then and everything and then to be honest, my uh my baby mama my baby mama took me out of jail 5,000 uh dollars.

[00:03:56]And then they took me out and then um after that I was all right fighting my case, you know, then I signed a voluntary departure which is for me to get out the country and they gave me a specific date and I ended up staying like that. I didn't leave.

[00:04:08]>> For some immigrants, deportation meant losing a country.

[00:04:12]For some it meant losing their identity.

[00:04:16]The next story may be the most heartbreaking yet.

[00:04:20]Let's check it out.

[00:04:22]>> So how many years all together did you live in the US?

[00:04:24]>> It's uh almost 19 year. 19 year, yes. I have a wife, kids. I have a wife and Laura is uh 4 year and one boy is uh 4 months old. I left over there.

[00:04:36]>> You You have a 4-year-old daughter and a 4-month-old >> Yes. Yes, I left them.

[00:04:41]>> And they're in with your wife in the US.

[00:04:43]>> Yes. And I'm scared. But you know, it's not with the Trump. They say they have to uh you know go over there criminal, but we're not criminal, you know.

[00:04:52]But >> But you have a trespassing conviction.

[00:04:55]>> Yes. But it's to me it's not a that bad of a law.

[00:04:59]>> To you it's not a serious a crime.

[00:05:01]>> Yes. I'm not.

[00:05:02]>> So what now? Where do you go, Fidel?

[00:05:05]>> Now I blow it. With my mom over there.

[00:05:08]And I'm leaving here, yeah.

[00:05:10]>> Are you going to try to stay here?

[00:05:13]Or do you think you'll go back?

[00:05:14]>> I have to go back, for sure.

[00:05:16]>> You'll find a way back.

[00:05:17]>> Yes.

[00:05:18]>> America was home for decades.

[00:05:20]But for many migrants one moment changed everything.

[00:05:26]And in the next video the stories get even more unbelievable.

[00:05:31]>> my country. I'm here almost 30 years.

[00:05:34]I'm working always. I pay the taxes. I pay my bills on the time. I take care of my kids. I never do what I married just to not hurt them, you know.

[00:05:44]I'm living for them. I give my heart for my kids. I cannot I don't know I'm going to how I'm going to how I'm going to stand without my kids.

[00:05:52]I I don't know how I'm going to go there, what I'm going to do there.

[00:05:56]I don't have where to go there. I don't have house there. My life is here. This is my country. I love this country.

[00:06:03]>> She's been here longer than she's been overseas.

[00:06:06]>> She came here when she was 19. I mean, how do you expect her >> I was 19 years old when I come here.

[00:06:11]That's how I meet my husband. I never doesn't meet him before.

[00:06:15]>> Yeah. Yeah.

[00:06:17]>> I still don't want to believe it.

[00:06:18]>> I I still I I cannot even prepare. It's just That's how I am out.

[00:06:23]It's just >> You know that last like grip of hope you like maybe something might come.

[00:06:28]You know, you hope.

[00:06:31]>> It's just You really don't know what to do anymore.

[00:06:35]It's just >> And I really, you know, I don't know if they even read it, to be honest. But like I said, she went over there. They said we're not going to give you an answer yet. Meet us at the airport on the 9th, the day she has to leave. So, they're going to give We'll give you the answer there.

[00:06:59]>> That's So, that's kind of I I couldn't believe it when they told her that. It's a So, pick your stuff, go on the airport, and we're going to give you an answer there. It's kind of doesn't make no sense.

[00:07:12]>> That doesn't This is it. The only letters that we sent to them and everything, but you know.

[00:07:18]>> I don't understand how you could read letters from people like family members and you know, customers. I don't get how you can read letters like this and like not sit back and be like, "Wow, you know, this It's not like she's been here 2 years, 10 years. She's been here almost 10 years." She has customers who wrote, you know, reference letters and everything about her character. And it's, you know, it's just it's insane to me how you could be like, "Yeah, we'll let you know at the airport."

[00:07:40]Is that what's what they She wanted for her son. She's done everything. You know, I mean I mean to the teeth. So it sucks and it hurts, you know.

[00:07:49]>> Like the way they portray like you know illegal immigrants as criminals, as thieves, whatever the case is. Like she's literally a number, you know.

[00:07:58]Like you know it sucks.

[00:08:05]I don't know what I'm doing.

[00:09:34]>> If you think that story was shocking, Wait until you see this next case.

[00:09:41]>> This right here happened in Laredo, Texas. A mom is hugging her son and saying goodbye after ICE has detained her after four decades of living in this country. This is so sad.

[00:09:57]Imagine the pain you would feel if it was your mom being deported.

[00:10:03]Wow.

[00:10:11]>> It is what it is, guys. If you're in the US illegally and unfortunately ICE catches up with you, then be ready for the consequences.

[00:10:21]Now, the next case is very shocking.

[00:10:23]It's about a woman who is crying over a husband who has been in the US for 30 years and now is getting deported.

[00:10:31]Let's check it out.

[00:10:32]>> Married for 28 years to my husband who is being deported right now by ICE.

[00:10:38]28 years. He's been here over 30 years and I want everybody to know nobody gives a [ __ ] if you have family, if you have kids, they don't give a [ __ ] if they're taking your your husband or your father away. They are taking my husband away. These are FBI agents who work for Border Patrol.

[00:10:55]Okay? I want everybody to know my >> Most people assume that having a green card means you're safe.

[00:11:02]But that is not always true.

[00:11:04]In the next video, we are looking at legal residents who still ended up facing deportation.

[00:11:11]Let's check this out.

[00:11:13]>> So, this is my last day here in my house. Tomorrow I leave for Bali indefinitely and it just feels like >> [snorts] >> very bittersweet, so surreal.

[00:11:26]And I I truly like I love my house. I I love my house.

[00:11:31]This has been my home for the past year and a half where I've really sought refuge. This has been my haven.

[00:11:40]And yes, I'm moving to Bali like and it's very bittersweet and it and it sucks. Like I just can't >> [snorts] >> I can't live here anymore. My children are here. I don't really speak to my family, but my children live here.

[00:11:54]They're 14 and 18 years old. I just don't want to be here.

[00:11:58]I don't want to be here anymore. I I have lived here almost 40 years of my life.

[00:12:05]There's so much more to the world.

[00:12:07]There's so much more to the world than just this little piece of backyard, this this house. There's so much to see and I don't want [snorts] to see it only two times a year, only two weeks a year. I want to vacation, I want to travel for all my life, but just know that there are sacrifices, there are sacrifices that are made. [snorts] And this is one of them, having to give up my house yet again.

[00:12:35]Willingly, but having to do this in order to get to what I want. This is the closing of a chapter and the beginning of another one and it's it's beautiful. It's bittersweet, but at the same time it's just it's the bitter part now. It's the bitter part now.

[00:12:57]>> After over 40 years in the US, a Filipino grandmother is being deported this week from O'Hare and her family fears she could have serious medical issues on the flight. Our Marissa Sulek spoke with them today.

[00:13:10]>> 70-year-old Rebecca Pinyard's family tells me she was arrested over 20 years ago for drugs. She did 19 years in prison and was told to check in with the Department of Homeland Security once a year. When she went to her annual DHS check in with her documents back in March, her daughter says she was taken into custody.

[00:13:27]>> As soon as they grabbed the documents from her, they said that she was going to be detained.

[00:13:33]>> April Lowe says her mom, Rebecca Pinyard, was rebuilding her life with her husband in North Carolina after being released from prison a few years ago.

[00:13:41]>> She's been active in the church.

[00:13:43]Um she donates. She gets up at 4:00 in the morning and takes walks.

[00:13:47]>> Now, for the last 9 months, she's been transported across the Southeast and is currently at a federal facility in Clay County, Indiana. They say she has a slew of medical concerns, including severe kidney disease, thyroid issues, and uncontrolled blood pressure. On video calls, Pinyard tells her family she has not been given her medications on a regular basis.

[00:14:07]>> It was, you know, very inconsistent.

[00:14:10]Um and this is like medication that is really critical for her.

[00:14:14]>> Louise Macaranas is with the Filipino migrant organization in Chicago looking at Pinyard's case. Before she is deported on Friday, they are demanding she gets a medical exam, not an ice custody, dialysis, and other medical needs.

[00:14:28]>> For many people, America wasn't just where they lived.

[00:14:32]It was home.

[00:14:35]These stories reveal how fragile that sense of belonging can become.

[00:14:40]Whether you agree with deportation policies or not, one thing is undeniable.

[00:14:46]Behind every case is a human life. And after decades spent building everything in one country, starting over somewhere else can feel impossible.

[00:14:58]If this story impacted you, let me know your thoughts in the comment section.

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[00:15:17]Thank you for watching till this end, and I will see you in the next video.